Baseball pitcher



Sept. 1, 1,931. J. D. JETER BASEBALL PITCHER Filed March 1, 192.9 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept.-1, 1931. J. D. JETER BASEBALL PITCHER gnwnfoz I duo: nu

filed on October 8, 1928.

"'l at ente'd Sept. 1, 1931 UNITED STATES JOHN D. JETER, OF SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA BASEBALL PITGHER Application filed March 1,

My invention relates to the ball throwing machine and more especially to a machine for throwing base balls, and is an improvement over my application, Serial Number 310,943

This invention relates more especially to means for throwing a base ball together with means for returning the same to the machine, and elevating means for returning the ball to the throwing apparatus.

An object of my invention is to provide a ball throwing machine which has a trans versely disposed trough with belts therein for bringing the thrown balls to the center of the machine, and an elevator chain associated with said transversely disposed belt and driven in unison therewith for elevating the balls to the ball throwing apparatus, said elevating apparatus being connected to the means for operating the machine.

Another object of my invention is to pro-v vide a ball throwing machine having means for throwing'a ball, means for operating the throwing means, means for connecting the throwing means with certain elevating means,

a transversely disposed trough for collecting the thrown balls when they roll back toward the machine, said transversely disposed trough having belts therein which are mounted on pulleys geared with the elevating means so that the entire machine runs in unison.

Some of the objects'of my invention having been stated other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which i Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine with a portion thereof shown in cross-section;

Figure 2 is a plan view of my machine;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal view mostly in cross-section through the pneumatic check as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view looking from the left hand end of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view showing the elevator and the trough for catching the balls and conveying the same to the elevator;

1929. Serial No. 343,625.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view of the means for operating and holding the throwing arm.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the numeral 10 indicates the base board of my machine on which is mounted the upright support 11 which has the circular trough member 12 secured 011 top thereof, and the outward projecting arms 13, 14 and 15 are secured on one side of this support 11 and on the base member 10 there is secured the electric motor 16 which has the shaft 17 extending therefrom, and on this shaft 17 there is the worm 18 which is adapted to -mesh with a gear 19 mounted on the trans-' verselg; disposed shaft 20, one end of said shaft emg mounted in a bearing secured in the proJection 15 and the other end of the shaft 20 being secured in the bearing in the upper end of the projection 21.

In the arm 14 there is pivotally mounted the lever 22 which has the slot 23 in its lower end, which slot engages the pin 24 on the side of the gear 19 and the upper end of this lever 22 has a coiled tension spring 25 pivotally secured therein, said lever being pivotally mounted on the pin 26 in the end of the arm 14.

This coiled tension spring 25 projects upward and forwardly and is pivotally secured to the pitching arm 28 which is pivotally mounted on the pin 29 in the arm 13, and the coiled spring is pivotally secured to one end of said pitching arm by means of the pin 30, and the other end of said pitching arm'has the cup-shape portion which is adapted to receive the ball 31 from the circular trough 12. The arm 13 projects forwardly from the pivot point 29, and has the additional pivot point *32, in which pneumatic check33 is secured,

said neumatic check being adapted to have slida ly mounted therein the piston 34 which has the arm 35 integral therewith, which arm is pivoted to the pitching arm 28 as at 36, and on the lower side of the pitching arm 28 there is the catch 37 which is adapted to engage the pivoted lever 39 which is pivotally mounted as at 40 in upwardly projecting lugs 41 secured on top of the arm 13. This lever 39 has the roller 42 therein which is adapted to engage the rojection 37 on the pitching arm and the other end of said lever is adapted to be engaged by the rod 43, which rod projects downwardly through the lug 44 on the lower side'of the arm 13, and a com ression spring 45 is secured around the sai rod with the cuff 46 fixedly secured on said rod to limit its downward movement, and on the lower end of said rod 43 there is secured the roller 47 which is adapted to follow the cam 48 on the shaft 20, thepurpose of said arran ement being to automatically release the pitc ing arm at a predetermined time when spring 45 is under great tension.

The pneumatic check comprises the shell 33 with the exhaust valve 50, said exhaust valve 50 comprising the passageway 51, and

the cavity 52, and the ball 53 and the additional passageway 54. The purpose of the just described arrangement is to permit the ball 53 to be drawn upwardly when the piston 34 is in the position shown and allow air to come in through the passages 51 and 54, but when the piston is forced backwardly toward the left in Figure 3 the ball 52 will fall downwardly and close the passageway 51 and prevent any air from escaping except through the check valve 55. The shell 33 has the upwardly projecting neck 56 with the oil cup 57 secured on top thereof with the passageways 58, 59 and 60 leading into the casing 33 with the cavity 61 so that when the piston 34 is moved to the left and the air is compressed therein the ball 62 will be forced upwardly to the position shownand prevent air from escaping into the oil-cup, but when the piston is moved to the right as in Figure 3 the ball will fall down to the top of channei 59 and allow oil to be drawn in through channel 60.

In the outwardly projecting lug 63- there is secured the vertically disposed rod 64 which projects upwardly into the circular trough 12, and the coiled spring 65 is secured therearound to normally force the said rod downward, and to the lower end of the rod 64 is connected bell crank lever 66 which is pivotally mounted on the pin 67 in the upwardly projecting lug 68, and the long end of said bell crank lever 66 presses against a roller 69 mounted on the lower end of the lever 22, the purpose of this being that when the bell crank lever 66 is pushed forward it will push the rod 64 upwardly and will push the last ball in the low end of the trough 12 over and cause it to fall in the pitching arm, and will prevent the other balls from sliding downward.

The cam 48 which is mounted on the shaft 20 permits the roller 47 on the rod 43 to suddenly fall downward and trip the lever 39 and release the pitching arm to cause it to throw the ball.

Mounted on the shaft 20 is the sprocket wheel 70 and also on the upper end of the trough 12 there are the diverging members- 71 and 72 in which the sprocket wheel 73 ismounted and on the other end of-the base board 10 there is secured the sprocket wheel 74, and these sprocket wheels support the sprocket chain 75 which has the cups 76 thereon for elevating the balls 31 up to the circular trough 12.

The arrangement shown on the left hand end of the base board will now be described, and it consists of the casting 80 in which the shaft 81 is mounted in the portions 82 and 83 which serve as bearings and on the ends of this shaft 81 are the bevel gears 84 and 85 which bevel ears mesh with the other bevel gears 86 an 87 which are mounted on the shafts 88 and 89, and the other ends of said shafts 88 and 89 have fixedly secured thereon the pulleys 90 and 91 which are adapted to have mounted thereon the belts 92 and 93 which are adapted to travel in a trough 94 which is formed by the side members 95 and 96 and the bottom member 97 with the strips 98 and 99 in the bottom thereof between which the belts 92 and 93 are adapted to run.

The sloping platform 100 is adapted to cause the balls to roll into this trough structure.

In the further end of the trough are mounted the pulleys 102 and 103 which are adapted to support the belts 92 and 93.

These belts convey the balls to the plate 104 which has the projection 105 thereon, which projection fits into the cup 76 as illustrated in Figure 5, and holds the ball and keeps it from falling throu h but allows the cup to pick the balls up Irom the projection 105.

The shield for the chain 75 is secured to the base board 10 and is indicated by the ref erence character 106.

The circular trough 12 has the projection 107 in its upper end, which is similar to projection 105, and its purpose is to prevent the balls from falling through between the diverging members 71 and 72 and directs the balls into the trough 12 after they are elevated by chain 75.

In the drawings and specification I have set forth a preferred embodiment of my invention and although specific terms are employed they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a base ball pitching machine, means for throwing balls at regular intervals, a transversely disposed trough in front of the machine, a sloping floor adapted to cause the thrown balls to return to the said trough, a belt mounted in each end of said trough on pulleys and being adapted to deliver the balls to the central portion of the trough, a gear connection between said pulleys and a transversely disposed shaft, a sprocket wheel on said shaft, a transversely disposed shaft adapted to drive the ball throwing arm and having a sprocket wheel thereon, a sprocket 5 wheel associated with a curved trough into which the balls are adapted to be placed be-' fore reaching the throwing arm, a sprocket chain mounted on all of the said sprocket wheels, and being adapted to elevate the balls from the said trough to the said w circular trough, and to drive the belts in said trough. 2. In a ball throwing machine, a standard, a ball throwing arm mounted on said standard, a transversely disposed shaft having means adapted to cooperate with said ball throwing arm to operate the same, a circular trough into which balls are adapted to be delivered means for delivering the balls to the ball throwing arm, a sprocket wheel mounted in the upper end of the said circular trough, a sprocket Wheel mounted on the transversely disposed shaft, a transversely disposed trough, a sloping floor adapted to return the thrown balls into said last men-e tioned trough, a plurality of oppositely driven belts in said trough adapted to deliver the balls to the central portion of said transversely disposed trough, gear connection between the said beltsand a second transverse-, 1y disposed shaft having a sprocket wheel thereon, a sprocket chain mounted on the said sprocket wheel located on the circular trough, and the sprocket wheels on both of the transverse shafts elevating means on said sprocket chain adapted to raise the ball directly from the trough to the top of the circular trough.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' JOHN D. JETER. 

